Hello out there, and thanks for stopping by. Just a quick blog post (the first in 3 years?) to note that Dead & Buried v1.0 is now over. We shut the doors on our little corner of Melbourne this month after a few years of being in Sydney and recently returning to Melbourne with a new direction and new perspective.

It was a hell of a fun ride whilst it lasted, and there is every chance that v2.0 will spring up again in the future somewhere, but for now we’re closing the book on our time in Melbourne.

Dani is continuing to put out work under both of her labels goodlyGOLD and Dani M Designs, so you can still get your hands on her work there.

Steve is as scattered as always, is toying with the idea of making art and sculpture his new thing, and currently has a dozen unfinished projects on the go.

The rest of our studio crew have mostly gone on to be?successful jewellers / designers, and some?have set up studio spaces of their own in the Nicholas Building, so if you’re still interested in shopping local and meeting makers, track down Amber Arizono, Megan Webb, Emily Green or Elise Sheehan and arrange to drop in and see them and their respective studio buddies.

Hey readers! Seeing as it has been another few months since I added anything here, I figure adding them all in one huge chunk might make reading this blog less useful in the future, so I’ve split things up in to smaller articles of all the cool things that have happened to us and our little crew in 2014.

Moving cities and working (almost) full time has left us with less time for blogging and less chance to get cool photos of the studio, but I really think it’s worth continuing to update the site so that the journey from start to finish is documented and so that anyone who is reading or has been following all along gets some closure…… I personally hate it when blogs just stop mid-sentence and never get updated again.

my little home studio in Sydney… taken over the dining room and jammed a whole lot in.

If I do ever consider this “finished” I’ll be sure to let everyone know. But seeing as we’re still in Australian and not retailers in NYC it’s not finishing any time soon!

My poor 3D printer hasn’t been getting the attention I thought it would this year, but I did get to give it one solid workout a few months back in a project I did with the always amazing Audrey Thomas-Hayes.

Audz and I collaborated on a piece for the Browser exhibition that Alexandra?McCloud Gibson curated for VAMFF 2014 and was nice enough to invite us to participate in.

With a theme around how browsers and the internet have shaped style for the current generation, Audz and I got pretty ‘meta’ and collaborated exclusively via the internet… admittedly more as a geographical necessity, but also, you know, for artistic merit *cough*.

We bounced ideas initially via a Pinterest secret board…

Then we emailed files back and forward to arrive at a single concept…

Then I got to work on modelling up shapes whilst Audrey experimented with leather and real-world forms…

We emailed constantly to get approval and inspiration from each other and were able to lock down the major idea pretty quickly. The wonders of the modern world.

I printed out some miniature samples to make sure the proportions were correct, and then started printing the master forms for the crystal geode inserts…

I posted the masters to Audz who made silicone molds and then got to work on casting the resin shapes, whilst I printed out the other major pieces…

I filmed a whole lot of printer stuff that we intended to use as a projection in the gallery space to show the process. We set up a DropBox account to share the massive files and Audz edited the clips together.

The final hurdle was how to display the actual pieces… and seeing as Audrey has developed quite the interest in curation as a career path, she absolutely WENT TO TOWN on the install, making custom furniture, getting her pal Andre to set up a reflected projection setup and also deciding to include all of the miscellaneous production samples and failed prints to embrace the beauty of each part of the process.

This is the abstract that Audrey wrote for it (nerrrrrd)

“Conceived largely through Internet based exchanges,?Rocks II?was realised in two stages in the practitioners’ respective locations, Sydney and Melbourne. The project explores the duality of the geode; a rock with a crystal or mineral lined cavity. Whilst the outcome of this exploration is a pair of fully formed, 3D printed and resin cast shoes, the resulting developmental detritus is considered equally significant.

This is the second project in a series of collaborations between Steven and Audrey, incorporating 3D printing, resin casting and conventional shoemaking practice. These collaborations serve as a creative outlet and platform for ideas generation for both designers.”

… and without further ado, this is what we ended up with.

All gallery photography by Albert Comper.

Another project out the door!

Next up for me is an in-gallery 3D printing weekend at the Powerhouse Museum in August, where I’ll attempt to do most of this sort of thing in real-time, in front of the public. eeeeeeek.

Behind every great man is a great woman, and that is definitely the truth around here. In the weird world we live in it’s never Dani OR Steve that are busy, its always Dani AND Steve that are busy… we dont take holidays. We really should.

So, in the last 6 months Dani has had plenty of wins of her own, here’s a quick rundown…

She also got totally featured on the creative crew website The Bonafide Bedfellows when we lived at our last house. (Sydney on a sunny day makes everyone’s spare bedroom look like a dreamy studio space…)

She also managed to squeeze out a new collection… you know, in her spare time.

Since moving up here she has taken on board the style and vibes of the cool girls up here, and tailored a collection to (hopefully) still speak to her Melbourne customer base, whilst also drawing in a few more northerners…
The collection is called The Longest Time and was officially launched via Yen Magazine here :

Dani and I masterminded the?creative direction and whipped up the flatlay images.

We were lucky enough to get to work with Mali Koopman, a new?jawdropping model at Chic, and the shoot was produced with the help of the girls at OMGfive.
It was shot by Natalia Parsonson and styled by Tanya Levak.

But not much in the way of details peeps, I’ve been told (and I agree) that I tend to get so excited at the start of a new project that I talk about it to everyone and then when the time comes to do hard work it’s not a novelty or a mystery or a secret anymore … and that removes a whole lot of motivation as there is no big reveal at the end.

So, with that in mind, here’s what I can tell you.

I’ve registered a new business name – Airline Atelier – which will be a sport / androgynous / leisure / tomboy / female fashion label launching (ideally) later this year.

Featuring a range of Australian made shoes, and menswear styled items (think shorts, shirts, jackets, caps) cut for women. Mostly / only offered in all black or white, and not released in seasonal drops. It will be an ever-evolving set of products, possibly including homewares and accessories later on to round out the complete Airline brand.

…for anyone asking “what the fuck? I thought he was hand making high heels? Or starting a retail shop? Huh?” here’s how it all fits in to the big chess game that is life.
These might help someone out there skip some steps I took along the way if this sounds like what you want to end up with.

Making high heeled luxury shoes by hand makes them VERY expensive, and it seems I don’t have the patience to have a brand that only makes one pair of something per week. I have a backlog of 100’s of designs, so it seems better that I consider myself a designer and not a maker. I had to remind myself that I set out to learn shoemaking to INFORM my designs, not because I wanted to make shoes by hand, so it’s been liberating letting that side of it go. I can still make a prototype if needed, but my time is better spent designing.

Making super high quality high heeled shoes in Australia is also extremely hard with our industry at near-dead status… so I will need to get my designs made overseas eventually, but that’s not what I want to do right now, nor can I afford it.

Getting shoes / sandals / loafers etc made in Australia is entirely possible at the moment, as is getting tshirts and pants etc cut and sewn locally, so I figure whilst I’m based here and not able to travel nor invest $1000s in overseas production, I should support the local industry and start an Australian Made label.

Almost all of my close friends now are females, and almost all of them are tomboys who dress awesomely in boy’s tees and sneakers, so I figure designing for them and making locally is win/win!

My UX design day-job has also equipped me with the skills to properly observe, document and react to “what people want”… so it seems like a good time to launch a label that fills all the gaps in my friends’ wardrobes.

Lastly, this label will not only give me the experience needed to work out how exactly to run a label without the massive overheads of Italian shoe production costs… it will also give us a chance to retail our own goods online and eventually in a store, to bring the whole Dead & Buried shop idea to life. FINALLY.

… ideally we’ll set the brand up, grow it and then take the label + a bunch of other Australian fashion labels and jewellery etc to NYC for the big dream… where we open Dead & Buried II in Soho or Brooklyn somewhere. 6 or so years after starting the journey. Sheesh.

So, that’s the scoop. I’ll have websites and social media accounts active soon and clothes on racks before Christmas!

As you may or may not know, the heart of Dead & Buried has always been our studio space in Melbourne – and so it’s a little weird me blogging about things that I’m doing from our living room in Sydney without a mention now and then of the cool cats who still work from the Nicholas Building and keep our room humming whilst we’re away.

Mid last-year, just before Dani and I moved to Sydney, we signed up our newest studio member, jeweller Megan Webb. She moved in, set up her stuff, installed a bunch of equipment and immediately made it known she was in for the long haul. She has since set up a proper business name/identity and is making her mark by offering truly ethical jewellery, she uses recycled and reclaimed materials whenever possible and has some mind-melting hand skills… she literally takes a cube of metal, fucks with it for a few days hammering, rolling, drawing, pulling, filing and soldering and MAKES A GOD DAMNED ENGAGEMENT RING FROM SCRATCH.? Amazing. Well, amazing to hot-glue and MDF hacks like us.

We still have our first ever studio pal in the house – Amber Arizono, who is also a master of metalworking (and just created her first commissioned engagement ring!!) + we now have Elise Sheehan back in the room, eating bananas, keeping Yaz and Megs company and complaining about the cold to no one in particular. Kieren and Sarah are also in and out when time allows…. and that makes us so bummed to not be down there in amongst it all!

At least the spirit of Dead & Buried, making by hand and taking it to the world, is alive and well.

I asked the crew for an update on what’s new in their worlds, so here’s the lowdown for you to click on and add to your bookmarks…

?Elise Sheehan

Elise has?just completed the NEIS scheme and is now forced to spend her days acting like a real grown up and like, you know, run a business and that.

“This up-cycled Rose Cut diamond and 100% recycled 18K white gold engagement ring and wedding band set were designed and hand made for Elisa and Cliff.

?Elisa and Cliff came to me with a budget and an idea in mind and together we came up with this simple yet stunning design. Elisa was certain that she wanted an ethical diamond, and though we can’t be certain of where this 0.23ct beauty originated from, we can be sure that it has experienced a long history before now.?

?

Recycling diamonds is a great way of reducing demand for new mining enterprises.

Elisa chose a hammered finish for the metal as she was consistently drawn to a more rustic and organic look. Personally I think the hammered finish complements the slightly asymmetrical facets of the hand cut diamond perfectly!

The recycled metal used is a Palladium White Gold alloy that does not require Rhodium plating.”

She also made these little beauties last week – if you like ‘em, get in touch with her, they’re for sale!

?

100% recycled silver, art deco inspired studs

Amber Arizono

Amber has some new bits and bobs on the go and is about to head over to Burning Man, so track her down on social media if you want to experience that from the eyes of a Melbournite.

… so that’s what’s been happening in the ol’ room. Unfortunately I dont think anyone is participating in the Nicholas Building Open Studios this year as the place is a bit of a mess, but if you’re there and you want to see any of these ladies, just knock and ask!

We have been busy I assure you of that. We moved house AGAIN (still in Sydney), Dani has a new collection designed and sampled, we produced a beautiful lookbook for it that I’ll be excited to share with everyone in a little while when the range is ready to be released, and I made some 3D printed shoes in a collaboration with Audrey Thomas-Hayes for VAMFF… on top of us both having other jobs and travelling to Melbourne and Adelaide.

So, no pictures today except for this one… more soon when I get time and we get an internet connection at home!

STAY STRONG PEOPLE, keep on striving towards those goals. They will almost always seem impossible, but that’s the whole point.

Hi gang, by now it’s possible that no one is reading these posts any more, but recently I had a bit of a ‘what the fuck am I doing’ moment and it was actually quite helpful to revisit this blog as somewhat of a diary for the last 4 years and see exactly what I / we did… and that helped with the feelings over being overwhelmed now that we’re almost 4 years into the big 5 year plan.

As you may know, Dani and I have recently moved to Sydney, so now it seems the Dead & Buried team / concept / soul is spread over two cities with the actual studio space still humming along in Melbourne and us two in a new city, making new friends, doing new things and making new challenges. There is a possibility that Dead & Buried II will start up here in 2014, but we need to be sure it’s worth the time and effort as part of our new outlook and set of priorities.

In a nuthshell we’re up here mostly due to me taking on a job as a User Experience Designer – which admittedly was pretty out-of-left-field when I took it on, but it seems its a position that suits me perfectly, designing things that make life easier for people which is essentially what I’ve done my whole life when given the chance – but we are also hoping to capitilise on some of the drive, business savviness and dollars that Sydney is all about.

We love Melbourne for it’s DIY attitude, but it started to seem like we were trapped in a cycle of ‘earn a little, spend it all again’ and it didn’t seem likely that it would be a path that would take us and our products to the world. The move to NYC is still my #1 driving goal that gets me out of bed each morning, so taking the opportunity to move cities was too good to pass up.

So, at the moment Dani is busting ass making 10 times more work than she has ever made to hopefully sell out of at the Big Design Market in Melbourne early December. I’ve officially shelved my fashion/shoe stuff for ANOTHER few months, as we cant realistically launch a label, work full time and make market stock all at once … so like a big chess game, we’ve made a strategic plan to smash through 2013 and get on with things in 2014.

Dani also has a PR agency now, so we are currently making a lookbook for her latest collection, I’ll put some images up here next week when it’s released. VERY EXCITING.

I could rattle on all day, and there are lots of projects that have happened over the last 6 months that haven’t had much love, but for now here’s a quick summary :

– The visors I made for Christina Exie are currently travelling the world with her, recently getting a showing at Vancouver Fashion Week and MSFW, as well as appearing in a magazine editorial here in Australia.

– I did some top secret work for Dion Lee earlier in the year for his NYFW show. I helped out with some 3D generated terrains that made it in to this line of clothing. There might be more showing up in the future depending on if he / we are able to take it as far as we want to for next collection (the ideas he has are pretty amazing)

– My 3D printer moved up here with us and I printed out this mammoth piece for my pal Soren. He is going to get it cast from magnesium to replace a part on a vintage race car that he is restoring… pretty awesome being able to use modern tech to make things that would be otherwise impossible to source.

– Dani has over run our new house with jewellery. Here’s some shots of it all… we strive for a minimalist lifestyle, but there’s always something creative going on that fills up the empty tables (and we love it that way)

– As I mentioned, I’ve been helping Dani with her lookbook. She managed to arrange a beautiful looking photoshoot with a week’s notice and now I’m back at home doing retouching on a dozen images. Here’s a teaser, more to come soon…

I’m sure there’s more, but for now that’ll have to do.

Oh, and I just watched these 3 videos – which reminded me how much I loved our old studio and made me happy to know that there are other people out there like us who are 100% committed to doing whatever it takes and making whatever they need to get the job done.

I found it comforting to be watching a video about someone’s resourceful studio space, whilst in a space that I’ve managed to squeeze in to a wasted corner of our house, where everything has it’s place and everything makes sense.

Thanks for reading, who knows where this journey will go, but at a bare minimum it has to make for an interesting book one day when allllll these twists and turns are put back to back as “The story of Dead & Buried, New York’s most beloved retail space”… ha!

… the most interesting bit (to me) is the mention of “MakerBot Flexible Filament,?a polyester-based material that’s coming soon” …. flexible filament + chainmail sort of 3d models = knitted / fabric wearable shoe uppers. Combined with solid heels and platforms it seems like I will be able to print out some wearable shoes before the end of the year! exciting! particularly now that I have the printer in our living room here in Sydney and I have plenty of evenings free to use it. More blog posts coming soon!!

It’s on again! We’re opening the doors to our studio/shop at the end of the month as part of the Nicholas Building Open Studios. There’ll be limited edition jewellery to buy from our studio pals, and (if all goes to plan) a pop up space filled with clothing as part of MSFW which starts the next day. Christina Exie is putting together a collection of labels to display their goods in our humble little shop for the week.

So pop in for a look, and if you’re around later on Friday we’ll stay around for a drink before Dani and I jet off to Sydney!

I will have to hand over control of this blog and the Instagram account to the studio crew so you can continue to get updates from the studio space, i’ll be the roving reporter bringing news from the scene up here…. (and possibly from Dead & Buried II if we set one up in Sydney!)